Removal of dust, lint or other particulate contaminants is very important in processes for painting, lacquering or otherwise coating articles insofar as such particles will form blemishes in the final coated product. Attempts at dust removal by wiping are frequently counterproductive because contact with cloths and the like can introduce further contamination in the form of lint or extraneous matter. It has been found in many instances that brushes may be employed to remove dust or other fine particulate matter from a surface prior to coating and such brushes are referred to as tack brushes.
Brushes most advantageously employed in a tacking process are those which are prone to develop and maintain a static electrical charge thereupon. A charged brush will attract and hold dust particles rather than scattering them around the surface or the workplace. In addition to developing a static charge, it is desirable that a tack brush be capable of rapidly discharging so as to enable release of the collected dust. Discharge is typically accomplished by the use of an ion generator such as a radioactive or electrically charged member.
Of particular advantage in fabrication of tack brushes are feathers, particularly the feathers of ratite birds such as ostriches or emus. Such feathers rapidly develop a static electrical charge and readily discharge when subjected to an appropriate ion source. Other types of feathers, including synthetic substitutes, may be similarly employed in the fabrication of tack brushes.
Heretofore available tacking apparatus have been relatively large pieces of equipment generally comprised of a plurality of power driven brushes, each brush being several feet in diameter and 4-10 feet long. The brushes are typically mounted in a fixed location and articles being tacked passed thereunder. For example, in the preparation of automobile bodies for painting, a tacking apparatus comprised of a plurality of rollers analogous to a carwash is utilized to provide a final dust removal treatment. Such large apparatus work well for high volume cleaning of relatively large area items. However, there is an unaddressed need for apparatus adapted for the tacking of small size and/or low production volume items.
For example, household appliances, burial caskets, furniture and pianos are all generally provided with high quality painted and/or lacquered finishes. However, a large area tacking apparatus would not be well suited for preparation of these items for coating owing to their small size and/or relatively complex shape. Similarly, automobile repair shops need to prepare portions of automobiles for painting. However, it would not be cost effective to employ a large area high volume tacking apparatus for such preparation. Heretofore in such situations, final cleaning of an item prior to counting thereof was accomplished by the use of wiping cloths or feather dusters. However, such items, are prone to deposit new lint particles and to scatter existing dust about, creating more problems than they solve.
Accordingly, it will be seen that there is a need for a relatively small area tacking apparatus suited for low volume and/or small area applications. It is preferred that such apparatus be capable of operation by a single worker and be readily adapted to tacking of surfaces of a variety of shapes. It is further desired that such apparatus be capable of collecting and retaining dust particles as opposed to scattering them about.
The present invention addresses this heretofore unfulfilled need by providing a portable tacking apparatus suited for hand-held operation by a single worker. The tacking apparatus of the present invention includes a portable, relatively lightweight tacking head which an operator may sweep across a surface prior to painting. The tacking head communicates with a central suction unit adapted to retain dust particles collected by the tacking head. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the drawings, description and claims which follow.